Copyright Notice

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author, at the address below.

12
comments:

The father build but the sons destry. Tun Razak was a great leader in his time. He was innovative and was the people's man. He listens to the people and thus does not need top apologise for what he did as he did what the people had wanted him to do.Its very unfortunate that the sons are now destroying what the people, through the father. had built. Take Bank Bumiptra, for instance. It is already a foregone entity. A bank that was built by the Malays to train Malay bankers and to assist the Malays in business has been totally destroyed by UMNO, the very party that was supposed to upheld the Malay interest. Najib/Nazir has betrayed, not only the father but the Malays as a whole. Within the Klang valley, except in Shah Alam, all the branch managers are all replaced by non Bumiptra and most of the senior position, in the bank that used to be run by the Malays, are now taken over , all in the name of business survival as claimed. And now, FELDA will suffer the same fate as BANK BUMIPUTRA MALAYSIA BERHAD NOW KNOWN AS CIMB. SOB.

In view of the impact of the FGV listing on the wealth and lives of Felda settlers, it is amazing that the government has been so stingy with the facts of the IPO and how this listing is going to benefit settlers. All Najib and Isa Samad say is “trust us”, and all of you will get a “windfall”.

In the absence of facts, let’s ask a few questions to see if they throw any light on the issues:1. Can the settlers get something for nothing? They say there is no such thing as a free lunch. It is true in this case as well. The settlers through their cooperative KPF own 51% of Felda Holding, the arm that actually makes money through some refining and manufacturing activities. If they participate in FGV, this 51% will be exchanged for shares in FGV, and that 51% will translate to about 38% in the enlarged FGV. 2. Will income from holding this 38% exceed the current 51% in Felda Holdings? This is unlikely because FGV is going to use money raised from the IPO and future retained earnings from plantations to go downstream into oleo chemicals like IOI Corporation, Wilmar International and KLK, the companies that FGV is trying to emulate. But if we look into the published accounts of these companies we can see that they all get far higher returns from plantations (upstream) than in downstream manufacturing. This means that Felda settlers will get less dividends in the future.3. Will settlers lose control? Yes, they will lose control of Felda Holdings, the main cash cow, and their 38% in FGV won’t give them outright control. Besides, if they also throw in their land holdings by granting 99-year leases, that land is also gone for 4 generations, a very long time.4. What about the “windfall”? We don’t know exactly what this is, how much it amounts to, and where it might come from. We can guess that it could be the usual quick profit that one makes by participating in IPOs that are priced below market price. So settlers might get “pink” forms or “blue” forms to subscribe for a few thousand FGV IPO shares. How this might be financed we don’t know. But they could sell them for say a 10% or 20% gain on listing. This is one type of windfall. Another kind is what I suspect the government might give, that is, pure cash that the government makes from the listing by selling some of the FGV shares that the government (through FELDA corporation, the statutory body under PM’s Dept.) will receive for pumping into FGV its 49% in Felda Holding and also the 360,000 hectares that FELDA Corporation ie government owns. This is pure bribery to get the settlers to agree to the IPO, and doubly devious in view of the GE.5. Whatever has happened to the original Felda vision, to open land to help the landless poor? It is now going into big business that the settlers don’t understand, can’t control, and makes less money than planting oil palms and making CPO.

So, is this IPO good for the settlers? This is another test for the settlers, mostly Malays. Should they fall for the immediate temptation of the windfall, and sacrifice control and future higher returns? Should they stick with doing things they understand or go into businesses they know nothing about? The government has discarded the original Felda dream. But the settlers can, if they choose, keep it alive.

I see that you have understood the FGV listing issues reasonably well. You must have compared the proposal I emailed and others that you may have received.

But you have forgotten the land to be leased to FGV. Heard from the grapevine that was the very reason Datuk Dzul (ex-DG) was removed. He was very much against transferring the land to FGV. So much so he was removed.

There are legality issues related to the land transfer. Heard a number of States are against the move. Wonder what would happen if a Sultan in a particular state were to stop the transfer? My sources indicated that the objections is rather strong from certain "Fixed Deposits" state... Hmmm...

Dato,the only thing Umno/BN has on its mind is survival and survival only.Why worry about the Felda settlers.They can go fly kites or tend to the water kerbaus or NFC lembus for all they care.

The only thing on their minds is to get their hands on the billions of ringgits when FGV is listed.The financial windfall they were saying to the Felda settlers,were actually meant for themselves.

Some of this money will be siphoned offshore while the rest will be used for the coming GE.So if they lose the GE,they can always get the next flight out and enjoy the spoils.Better lock all the gates before the lembus stampeded to the exits.

So, from what I understood, this Felda FGV listing has much risk in the long run. I find it mind-boggling that UMNO would so much as to touch the very heartland of the Malays, the very people they are supposed to protect! Surely UMNO would not betray the very people that have supported them for the last 54 years come each election? I pray to God that the Felda settlers would not be caught short-changed for this listing.